Stanley Rous
| birth_place = Mutford, Suffolk, England | death_date = (aged 91) | death_place = Paddington, London, England | occupation = Referee and Football Administrator | nationality = English | spouse= Adrienne Gacon | children= None }} Sir Stanley Ford Rous, CBE (25 April 1895 – 18 July 1986) was the 6th President of FIFA, serving from 1961 to 1974. He also served as secretary of the Football Association from 1934 to 1962 and was an international referee. Early life Rous was born in Mutford near Lowestoft in North Suffolk and attended Sir John Leman School in Beccles.Pawson.A (2004) ‘Rous, Sir Stanley Ford (1895–1986)’, rev. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press (online). Retrieved 20 April 2011.‘ROUS, Sir Stanley (Ford)’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 (online). Retrieved 20 April 2011. He was the eldest son of a provision master but trained as a teacher in Beccles before serving in World War I as a non-commissioned officer in the 272nd brigade of the Royal Field Artillery (East Anglian) in France, Palestine, Egypt, and Lebanon. After the war Rous attended St Luke's College in Exeter and then became a sports teacher at Watford Boys Grammar School. Referee Rous played football at amateur level as a goalkeeper and developed an interest in refereeing whilst watching Norwich City. He later qualified as a referee while studying at St Luke’s and became a football league referee in 1927. He officiated in his first international match, a 2-0 friendly win for Belgium against Holland, in the Bosuilstadion, Antwerp on 13 March in the same year.Belgium v. Holland, 1927, result: R Da Silva personal website. He eventually officiated in a total of 34 international matches. He rose to the top tier of the game when he was appointed to referee the 1934 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, where Manchester City defeated Portsmouth by 2 goals to 1.1934 FA Cup Final: at soccerbase.com website. The following day, after travelling to Belgium to control an international match, Stanley Rous retired from refereeing. Administrator He then moved into the sphere of football administration. He served as secretary of the Football Association from 1934 to 1962, and president of FIFA from 1961 to 1974. During his time as FIFA President, Rous witnessed the crowning of England as Champions of the World in 1966.Honorary President of FIFA, 1974: FIFA.com website. He was also known for his avid support for Apartheid era-South African Association. South Africa had been admitted to FIFA in 1954, but expelled from the CAF in 1958. They were suspended from FIFA in 1961 after failing to fulfil an ultimatum regarding anti-discrimination rules. In 1963, they were readmitted to FIFA after Rous travelled to the country to “investigate” football in the country, concluding that the game could disappear in the country if they were not readmitted and after the South African Football Association proposed playing an all-white team for the 1966 finals and an all-black team in 1970. It turned out to be short-lived. At FIFA’s next annual congress, held in Tokyo just after the Olympic Games, a greater turnout of African and Asian representatives led to South Africa being suspended again. They were finally expelled from FIFA twelve years later. Rous, however, continued to press for them to be readmitted, to the point that he was prepared to establish a Southern African confederation so that South Africa and Rhodesia (who were themselves expelled in 1970) could compete. Rous was forced to back down after CAF members made it clear that they would all withdraw from FIFA at the 1966 FIFA congress in London. Rous stood for re-election as president in 1974, but was defeated by the vigorous canvassing of João Havelange, in the context of discontent of other nations at European domination of FIFA as well as oppostion by African & Asian countries due to the pro-apartheid stance of Rous.Sugden, John and Tomlinson, Alan (1997) "Global power struggles in world football: FIFA and UEFA, 1954–74, and their legacy", International Journal of the History of Sport 14(2) pp1–25. Upon his retirement as president, on 11 June 1974, he was nominated Honorary President of FIFA. Rous made a major contribution to the game by rewriting the Laws of the Game in 1938, making them simpler and easier to understand. He was also the first to employ the diagonal system of control for referees as a standard practice.Rewriting the Laws of the Game (19 June 1997), also mention of the diagonal system of control for referees: FIFA.com website. According to Belgian referee John Langenus, who had been in charge of the 1930 FIFA World Cup Final, he had seen referees from his country making a similar attempt at scientific positioning on the field of play.Diagonal system of control: Footballreferee.org website. The short-lived Rous Cup was named after him, as is the Rous Stand at Watford F.C.'s Vicarage Road ground. He wrote A History of the Laws of Association Football which was published in 1974. Personal life Stanley Rous was married to Adrienne Gacon in 1924. The couple had no children. He was appointed CBE in 1943 and knighted in 1949. He was a lifelong friend of the footballer and one of the founding members of FIFA, Dr. Ivo Schricker (1877-1962). Death Rous died in Paddington, London of leukaemia in 1986, at the age of 91. A service in his memory was held at Westminster Abbey in the September of the same year. References *''Football Worlds: A Lifetime in Sport'', Stanley Rous (Faber & Faber 1978), ISBN 0-571-11194-7. Category:1895 births Category:1986 deaths Category:FA Cup Final referees Category:Presidents of FIFA Category:Football players and officials awarded knighthoods Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Watford F.C. directors Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Royal Artillery soldiers Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:Members of Paddington Metropolitan Borough Council Category:Cancer deaths in England Category:Deaths from leukemia ar:ستانلي روس az:Stenli Rouz be:Стэнлі Роўз bg:Стенли Роуз bs:Sir Stanley Rous cs:Stanley Rous da:Stanley Rous de:Stanley Rous es:Stanley Rous fr:Stanley Rous ko:스탠리 라우스 hr:Stanley Rous it:Stanley Rous he:סטנלי רוס ka:სტენლი როუზი la:Stanley Rous lt:Stanley Rous hu:Stanley Rous nl:Stanley Rous ja:スタンリー・ラウス no:Stanley Rous pl:Stanley Rous pt:Stanley Rous ro:Stanley Rous ru:Роуз, Стэнли sh:Stanley Rous fi:Stanley Rous sv:Stanley Rous tr:Stanley Rous uk:Стенлі Роуз zh:斯坦利·劳斯